


A Second Chance

by TeamTired



Series: The 120 Pairing Challenge [6]
Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Dream Bubble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-10
Updated: 2012-07-10
Packaged: 2017-11-09 13:23:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/455918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamTired/pseuds/TeamTired
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eridan is resigned to his fate until Dave Strider pulls him out of time for one last mission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Second Chance

Your name is Eridan Ampora, and you’re just made a pretty terrible mistake. To be fair, it felt like the right thing to do at the time, but everything is hazy now. Kanaya and Feferi are dead, and the Matriorb is destroyed. The situation really is hopeless, and you’ve got nothing left to do but join Noir. 

As you walk towards the exit to the base, you run into Gamzee and Vriska. You glance into Vriska’s eyes, desperate to see some flash of what you used to have with her. 

You find nothing, no romantic sentiment, no ounce of pity. This is a showdown that will end with two dead, you are sure of it. As a lone Faygo bottle rolls across the ground, you glance over to Gamzee, who has adorned himself with trophies of his kills, Equius’ glasses and Nepeta’s hat. This is a monster who knows no remorse. Though you know you have the advantage of range on them both, you’re not sure it will matter. While you were busy receiving bupkis for your valiant efforts on your own planet against the angel scourge, they were busy leveling up and beating the game. You’re sure they could kill a thousand of you each without breaking a sweat.

But it doesn’t matter. As an errant breeze tousles the fluff protruding from a nearby dead scalemate, you shudder, reminded of how likely it is that you’ll end up looking just like him in a couple moments. 

Locked in the showdown with Gamzee and Vriska, you hardly notice the rapid padding of feet, running down a nearby hallway. In a terrifying flash of harsh glow, Kanaya appears, but she’s different, even scarier than before. Though you were sure you left her for dead, here she stands...and she’s angry. She rockets towards Gamzee and kicks him right in the bulge, sending him flying off a nearby precipice, leaving his shoes knocked off in the process.

“holy shit kan” you think to yourself, barely grasping what’s just happened. 

You’re almost too shocked to catch what happens next. Kanaya rushes towards Vriska and punches her impossibly hard, sending her flying across the room in an extremely impressive skid. 

Then she turns to you. You’re frozen in terror, barely comprehending the appearance of a bona-fide rainbow drinker, let alone the fact that she’s chosen you at her next target. 

As she grasps your white science wand, time slows down. You can feel the waves of reality ebb and flow, as if they are moving to accommodate something else. You know what comes next. You know what you’ve earned, and you know Kanaya isn’t one to hold back. Perhaps this is your body’s way of coping, like seeing your life flash before your eyes.

And then time does something else. Something even weirder. 

It stops. 

You can still move, you can still react, but everything else is completely frozen. And then he appears, in a flash of red light and gears, with the faint smell of burning and the scorching heat of a furnace. He looks right at you, disregarding everything else. 

“hey fishy asshole” he says, in a voice so aggravatingly nonchalant you hate him immediately. 

“in case you didnt notice youre gonna die in about 30 seconds”

And so what if you are? It’s none of this self-important douche’s business, and you have half a mind to tell him as much.

“wwhat’s it to you leavve me the fuck alone to die in peace then”

His face doesn’t change expression in the slightest. 

“here i was acting out of the goodness of my heart offering this doomed fish dude a second lease on life and he’s telling me to leave”

He shakes his head ever so slightly, as if expressing a tiny amount of disappointment.

“well ill be on my way then see ya”

As he turns, you can’t help yourself. You don’t want to die! You’ve barely lived a life at all, especially given how hopeless most of it has been! 

“wwait wwhat if i changed my mind and said i wanted to come with you”

The stranger glanced ever so slightly, as if hinting that such a thing was still possible. 

“then i might have half a mind to let you tag along on two conditions

first at the end of it all i take you back to this exact moment at this exact place

this is not a get out of destiny card those things are expensive as fuck and usually end up killing everyone involved

and second no fucking quadrants im taken by way too many bitches to be looking for a fishy asshole to placate my romantic urges and i know youre infamous for that kinda shit”

You’re offended by both his implications and his tone. Who is he to show up wearing idiot pajamas for wriggers and talk to you like that! You’re practically royalty! But then again, he is the guy with the time travel powers, and you know well enough to not look a gift carp in the mouth. 

“alright” you say, “lets do it”

He takes your hand and in a flash everything changes. Colors and bubbles fly by at terrifying speeds, but all that’s ahead of you is nothingness, a pure blackness deeper than anything you’ve ever seen before. All you can feel is the occasional tug of spacetime, pulling you in random directions towards splintered realities or doomed universes. And of course his hand, still firmed clasped in yours. You know it’s just to keep you from flying off, but it doesn’t change the fact that he chose you.

He chose you to save.

That has to mean something right? There has to be something more right? 

No, you promised him no quadrants. You can’t fuck up your one chance now.

In time (or is it space?) you approach a particularly large bubble, and you can feel yourself slow down as you inch closer. You’re barely moving at all when you hit the wall of the bubble, and you can feel yourself slowly melt through the barrier until you’re on the other side.

He looks at you and offers his hand. You shake, a little perplexed. 

“never got to do formal introductions

the names dave

dave strider the fucking knight of time”

This is your chance to impress him, to get on some semblance of equal ground. 

“eridan ampora the prince of hope

at your servvice”

Damn it. You can’t leave it there. You’re not some low blood to be ordered around!

“so wwhat the fuck is up wwith that ugly ass outfit you got there”

For a moment, the Strider seems genuinely offended. He betrays a sliver of emotion, just enough to let you know that you crossed a line. 

Shit. 

“well that certainly means a lot coming from the asshole in the scarf

but more importantly shows you know jack shit

this is a genuine knight of time god tier outfit right here

perfect for slipping through time streams and generally kicking ass

so you best step off fish face cause i had to die for this shit"

You blush for a moment, your purple blood rushing to your cheeks. 

“wwell im sorry

its just you kinda got me on the ropes here i dont evven knoww wwhere wwe are

wwhat are we doin here”

Dave smiles for a minute and looks over the landscape, giving you a good chance to do the same. You notice some of it, but the landscape has been spliced together, with bits and pieces from other places. In the foreground, you see a forest, composed of a few Alternian species you’re familiar and a few other types of trees you’ve never seen before. Behind that you see some mountains, but in the distance you see a giant fish bowl, which you recognize as part of Feferi’s world in the game. 

Dave turns to you.

“research my fishy sidekick were doing research

you see im from the alpha timeline the same one you are

and in our collective future we have to fight lord english who is a really difficult to kill son of a bitch

so information is pretty much our most powerful tool

now aradia would get information for her doomed robot selves but i dont have that kind of luxury mostly because i make sure never to mess around with doomed daves”

You see another flash of emotion, and this time it’s not something you caused. He’s genuinely bothered by the thought, and you can’t blame him. 

“so im visiting the dream bubbles getting information on anything i can from anyone i can from dream selves to alternate us to dead people to past selves

and thats where you come in

everyone else is too fucking busy to do recon with dave and i need a partner to watch my back and fight shit with me

so i picked you you got a decent set of combat skills and more importantly you got nothing else to do

so lets get our shit on the road

we got asses to kick and bitches to interview”


End file.
